CHAPTER 1
It was an unusually sunny day in the strange city of London. The temperatures were still slightly low as they should be at that time of the year, certainly, but the sunlight and lack of dark clouds was nice change for the gloomy sky people were used to. There was something almost magical about it; as though something or someone had hidden all the dampness above to let the sun shine on them.
Years later, in retrospect, Kaho would wonder if a certain person was behind those merry skies that day. However, she'd always forget to ask him for confirmation.
In that particular day, she took a chance to drop the textbooks and visit historical places. Never mind the fact her orienting abilities had much to be desired –that day, for instance, she had to ask for directions after she left the Queensway Underground station, just to discover she had went off the wrong exit-, she loved to walk around that beautiful and old city. It was so different to her hometown, and even to Tokyo. Ancient, and overwhelming, and mysterious; even getting lost was an adventure to her.
She was in the mood for Victorian, so she visited the Kensington palace, with its royal rooms filled with three centuries old stories. The furniture was splendid, and the dress exhibition was delightful, but what she really could remember afterwards was the silence of the halls and the old smell coming from the enclosed air. It was hard to believe for Kaho that some nobles still lived there. Then again, that was London, where the present existed in communion with the past.
When the guided visit indoors was over, she checked the Sunken Garden near the Orangery. She spent some minutes admiring the flowers surrounding the water, rather zen-like. After that, her shoes were starting to bother her. She made her way outside past the black and golden gates, in direction to the quiet wildness of Kensington Gardens.
She sat on the nearest bench, as her feet were killing her. She unbuttoned her coat and rested with her eyes closed, sun and wind both over her face. Kaho couldn't help but smiling. Such a nice day it was.
And it was yet to be more interesting, a voice inside her said. And her intuition was rarely wrong.
She opened her eyes. The bench was some footsteps from the Round Pond, whose brownish water shined a bit from the distance. She hadn't seen a pond that big. It was even larger than the ponds at the Tsukimine shrine.
When she had regained strength, she walked towards it. On the edge, moorhens and ducks stretched their wings and webbed extremities. She smiled at them and then stared at the pond's surface.
She felt like doing a fortune telling that day. However, this pond had fishes living in it, and aquatic birds swimming across it. She sighed and missed her father's cozy shrine: the small forest and its spirits, the carp pond, the fortune pond, and the fireflies and cicadas at summer. They had nothing to be compared to the Sunken Garden, but they were still prettier than this pond. The birds were cute, yes, and the park was peaceful, but...
It's funny how nostalgia works.
She knew it was useless, but as kept wondering why she had the feeling something different was bound to happen to her that day, she tried her luck. She closed her eyes again and joined her hands together.
"If there's something I need to know," she murmured in Japanese, "please tell me."
She opened her eyes. Instead of finding a vision in the water, an expectant mute swan was glancing at her in the same spot her eyes were looking at. Probably it was waiting for her to feed it with hard bread crumbs or cheap crackers. She buffed in defeat. At least the swan was gorgeous, its feathers in such an exquisite white color.
"Sorry dear, I didn't bring food for you. I'm as hungry as you are, actually."
The swan slowly moved its head around. Left, right, left. Was it looking for people with bread or saying no to her? Either way, the swan swam towards the land. Kaho just stared, nothing better to see. When it was finally standing on firm land, it turned around, opened its wings, and flew away.
Maybe she should move on as well instead of waiting for a sign. It had been weeks.
Besides, she was hungry; it was around lunchtime. Thinking about what and where she would eat, she fetched her purse to see how much money she had with her. Not enough for the Orangery, she knew. If she dared, she could try to find an affordable café nearby...
And then her thoughts were interrupted by a strong presence.
It wasn't the usual spirit this time. It was an actual human presence, an actual magical human presence! Someone with powers, someone with a clue! Her instinct brushed off her logical thoughts: London was a massive city, probably full of magicians and whatnot, and getting to the ones who know about it is like finding the bloody needle in a haystack. Nonetheless she knew it was a hint. She knew it...
Too bad she had left the Moon Bell safe at her flat. No time to lose in thoughts or regret, though. She followed the presence as quickly as she could, fearing it would fade away or hide before she could catch it.
So she ran through the park, leaving the palace and the pond behind. She got past a group of mothers and their baby carriages, gossiping about what they read on tabloids. She got past a bunch of children playing, hidden between trees and carrying plastic weapons. She lost her breath three times and had to wait until her heartbeats were stable, but she still ran. She ran without thinking because she wasn't hunting a person, but a destiny to fulfill.
In reality, she was also hunting a person. Not that she knew she was, though.
After ages of running, hundreds of steps, Kaho found the boy sitting on a bench and reading a thick book. While she caught her breath again she saw he wasn't only staying still on that place but also grinning.
She walked close to him. He was definitely human, but there was something off. The dark-haired boy appeared to be around twelve, of mostly Asian features, and wore glasses so he must've had sight problems. But his aura, the clothes he wore, the reading comprehension required to understand what that book was about... He couldn't deceive her.
As soon as she was in front of him, the boy –or the person who looked like one- closed the book and his eyes met hers. Still smiling, he pointed out the bench with a gesture, gently inviting her to sit down by his side. She conceded and joined him.
Silence except for her heartbeats, which hadn't slowed down. His head turned to her, waiting for her to begin. Except that she didn't know how to, unfortunately.
"Hello," she managed to say.
"How do you do, miss?" the boy replied, polite.
"I know you're not an ordinary child," Kaho said, cutting to the chase. "If this is an illusion, you may take the mask out and show me your true face."
The boy closed his eyes and snorted, his sheepish grin turning into a mischievous smile. He was yet a kid, but he wasn't pretending to be one.
"So you do?" He looked at her again, his new smile still on his face. "However, I'm afraid this isn't an illusion. This body you see is my own."
"But what I see isn't what I get," she said. He chuckled at the retort.
"Don't we all? Eyes are liars. What do you think you're seeing, though?"
"I'm not sure. You're a human being, with the most ridiculous amount of magic I've ever met, but you can't be this young. You confuse me."
"How did you get to this conclusion, that I can't be young? I could be a precocious boy genius who'd rather sit in the shadows reading a Nobel Prize of Literature than pretending he's a cowboy or a Power Ranger or whatever it's fashionable now."
"It's not only that you don't act like one. There's something... old about your aura. I'm sorry," she said just in case her words offended the old boy.
"Don't be," he said as the mischievous smile turned into a much nicer satisfied smirk. "I still have to work on my act. The aura I can hide at will. But perhaps I didn't see the need to play the role today. And I probably wanted to see whether I would confuse you."
"I'm still confused," Kaho assured him. The boy, however, didn't seem to listen to her.
"So, what is it?"
"What--?"
"You chased me for a reason. I'd like to hear it, if you please."
Kaho tried not to laugh. She couldn't understand him, but he had her figured out. The conversation was turning slightly bizarre.
"Yes, okay, I'm looking for information, and my intuition tells me you could provide me some hints. I don't know where to begin looking for answers."
"And you believe it?"
"I have no choice."
"So you follow your heart. That sounds like a good plan to me. Fine, let's hear it."
Kaho considered as if she should tell a stranger about her visions about the pretty girl with brown hair and the winged silver-haired person –or was it a spirit?- facing each other in her shrine, but talking in such a straight-forward way about the future with strangers wasn't her style. Besides, he might not get it. So he wanted to play mysterious? She would play too.
"What do you know about magic bells?" she tried to sound like a detective, asking general questions first.
"It depends on the kind of bell and the kind of magic they carry. You'll have to be more specific than that."
There was no point on playing mysterious on him.
"Fiiiiine. Someone left a magic bell in the shrine my father is a priest of. I know it's lunar, how it's supposed to work in the end, and who I should give it to, but I don't know who made it and with what purpose. My fortune telling told me I'd find the answer in this distant land, so I came to study abroad. But so far I haven't found out anything about it."
"What exactly do you know for sure?"
"I know the situation, the place, and the main persons involved, but not the circumstances. I was hoping I'd find out more details for this mission."
"What for? Don't you already know enough to carry on with it?"
"It is enough for the mission, but not for me. I want to solve this mystery before those events occur. I'm used to know more than most people, so I can't stand being in the dark about this. Also, I want to be sure I'll be doing the right thing. What if it's better the other one wins? I- I want to be positive about this."
"I haven't been in the dark for a long time, but I understand where you come from." Kaho thought the boy looked sad and bitter when he said that. "I can try to help you out. You said the bell was left in a shrine. The only religion I know which calls their sacred places 'shrines' and let their men of god to have children is Shintoism. Correct?"
"Yeah, we're a Shinto shrine. I serve as a miko when I'm home."
"Your English has a soft accent, and you said you're studying abroad, so this bell and this shrine are in Japan. Correct?"
"I brought the bell with me to England but indeed, I come from Japan."
"Then I'll better speak in Japanese, so you're more comfortable."
"Are you Japanese as well?" she switched to her native language.
"Not really," he switched as well, "but I'm fluent in it. You could say I was born there."
"Oh."
"Moon bells on shrines in Japan... I remember one. It was on a small town near Tokyo. Tomoeda, written with the kanji for 'friend' and 'branch'."
Kaho's eyes opened wide in surprise, not sure what to say.
"By your silence," the boy went on, "I assume you do, in fact, come from Tsukimine. You've come a long way, shrine maiden, but you're getting warmer. So warm it's burning."
It was too much for her. He knew. He so knew everything. Or didn't he?
"Do you actually know or are you reading my mind?"
"I can't read minds. I can read the future better than I wished I could, though. I confess I was aware, when I came to this park, that the person in charge with the Moon Bell at Tsukimine shrine would meet me. But even if I wasn't, I would've connected the dots anyway."
"But... you know...?"
He dropped the smugness, and his smirked turn into a genuinely warm, kind smile.
"I know everything about the Moon Bell. I'm the only person alive who knows its real function and why you should hand it to that girl. I know as much as its creator, actually. Your quest is over now that you found me."
He really knew.
She was so relieved she could almost cry. Instead, she chuckled.
"You could've told me before, instead of asking me those questions!"
"But what's the fun in that, uh..."
"Mizuki Kaho."
"Do you mind if I call you by your first name, Western-style?"
"I don't mind. I already got used to it, even without the honorifics."
"It's not polite to be so informal with a Japanese girl without her explicit permission. So it's fine if I call you Kaho?"
"It's fine, mister...?"
The boy didn't take the hint.
"You see, Kaho. I apologize for being so rude, but I hadn't had this kind of conversation in a while. I wanted to test you before; I wanted you to ask for my help. And also, I was curious to see why you're in a journey over something that you know it's not going to belong to you."
"But you're going to help me."
"Oh, of course! I never said I wouldn't, and I can't say no to such a pretty face."
Wait, was this kid flirting with her?
"Good," she was the one smirking this time, "since I'll make you talk with no circles this time."
"I'll do my best. What do you want to know?"
"Everything! The truth."
"It's a long story."
"I like long stories."
He nodded in approval.
"And you will hear it. But," he checked his watch, "not now. I have to make lunch, and I promised a special dessert."
"That's cheating!"
"But what's the rush? You will get your answers... just not on a Strawberry Saturday. We can sit around one day and talk in peace, preferably with access to tea and biscuits. And I'll save you a piece from the strawberry tart, I swear... How about tomorrow around 4:00 o'clock, at the Kensington Gardens' entrance?"
"Which one?"
"You choose."
"The northern gate."
"Good." He stood up and offered his hand. "It's been a pleasure to meet you, Kaho."
"I wish I could say the same, but you still haven't told me your name."
"What, legally? I've used several over the years--"
"Don't go in circles. Your name."
"...I respond to Eriol."
Then Kaho shook his hand, grinning.
"There, was that so hard? Nice to meet you as well!"
"Kaho..."
"Yes?"
"Some meetings are destined, and some encounters can turn your life upside down."
It wouldn't be the last time Eriol tells her something cryptic and meaningful.
"I know."
And it wouldn't be the last time Kaho gets what he meant perfectly.